Five years post Nirbhaya: Critical insights into the status of response to sexual assault

Abstract

It is five years since the fatal gang rape of Jyothi Singh (Nirbhaya), a physiotherapy student, on December 16, 2012, in New Delhi, the capital of India. The legal and policy reforms triggered by the Nirbhaya case will remain a watershed moment in the history of efforts towards seeking justice for survivors of gender-based violence in India. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 and the "Guidelines and protocols: Medico-legal care for survivors/victims of sexual violence" issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in March 2014 are two landmark reforms. March 2018 marks four years since the issuance of these Guidelines and five years since the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. Any reasonable tribute to Nirbhaya would constitute fair implementation of legal reforms, efforts to strengthen multi-sectoral response and sincere attempts to reduce crimes against women, gender and sexual minorities, and children. This paper reviews the issue, through a close study of recent cases of rape, police responses, court judgements, studies, news reporting and field-based observations. It brings forth the gaps in implementation that persist, and constitute a major obstacle in making these progressive policies and reforms effective. Given the fact that the reforms are intersectoral in nature, implementation has been particularly challenging. Lack of efficient implementation of such policies and reforms amounts to denying survivors their right to justice.

Disrupting gender norms in health systems: making the case for change

“…Women's movements and social movements that target gender roles have gained traction, bringing gendered health policy improvements, as occurred with the expansion of reproductive rights in Ireland 173 and the strengthening of the criminal justice system's response to rape in India. 174 The global #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment, built through women's collective responses and use of social media, is reverberating across sectors. In the USA, it led to research documenting that a third of women in science and technology have been harassed at work or in training, which was followed by a statement of nontolerance made by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.…”

Freedom of Movement and Adolescent Sexual Violence in India

“…Awareness increased and stigmatization of victimization from sexual violence declined in India following the Nirbhaya rape case of December 2012, in which a woman was brutally and fatally raped on public transport (Bandewar et al, 2018). Subsequently, rape reporting to police increased, particularly in Delhi and proximal urban locations, though prosecution and conviction rates have not improved (Bandewar et al, 2018;McDougal et al, 2021).…”

Age of consent: challenges and contradictions of sexual violence laws in India

“…For example, Karnataka state has legislated to automatically make all underage marriages void ab-initio without any consideration for young people who may want to stay married. 44 Another state, Haryana, has followed suit more recently, in March 2020. 47 Besides criminalising sexually active underage couples, such a move has also jeopardised the supposed social protection afforded by marriage, as well as the autonomy of adolescents.…”